Take Me Out- Illéa Version
by lizzieartblossom13
Summary: Just an idea I've had for a while... The Selection characters are on an Illéan version of popular TV show 'Take Me Out'. One-shot. Maxerica


I applaud as Aspen and Lucy run up the stairs, holding hands and grinning, though my heart is aching. Gavril Fadaye smiles, and I black out behind my light to try to think what I did wrong...

"Okay ladies," nineteen-year-old Aspen said. Lucy and I were the final two, after he'd eliminated most of the girls, as nearly all of us had been drawn in by his good looks and charm. Maybe he was the one... "I have lots of little siblings, so I often have to read them fairy tales. Honestly, I see myself as the knight in shining armour. Which character would you be?"

"Lucy, you're up first," Gavril announced, giving me some time to think.

Lucy, who was a Six like Aspen was until he apparently got drafted, smiled shyly. "I would be the damsel in distress, so you'd come and rescue me."

We all oohed and giggled and clapped her answer, then they turned to me.

"I'd be the good guy, so we could fight evil together," I answered, winking. The response for my reply was basically the same as Lucy's.

"Two very good answers, two lovely ladies," Gavril grinned. "Well, Aspen, you have a difficult choice. But before you make your decision, there's something you should know. One of these girls was once in an ABBA tribute band! Weird... So go on and turn one girl off and take one girl out!"

I tried to hide the guilty look in my face at the mention of the ABBA tribute band (what? They had good music!) Aspen ran down to Lucy where Ashley and Olivia were shooing him. He paused, and jogged over to me instead.

Marlee waved Aspen away as he came near, as did Celeste. He leaned in and kisses my cheek. I breathed in his homemade soap smell as he turned off my light. I felt a sense of disappointment as Gavril cried out: "Lucy! Come on up!"

I clapped as Aspen and Lucy joined hands in the middle of the stage. Gavril smiled, and then spoke again.

"Well, it was America who was in an ABBA tribute band." Everyone laughed. "When Aspen came here he did his Love at First Light. Lucy, you can go to Fernando's and never know who it was, or you can find out now."

Lucy tilted her head on one side, a pale blonde hair falling into her face. "I want to know," she said.

We all gasped and grinned, though almost everyone chooses to find out, Gavril pulled out the little black book in which Aspen had written.

"Aspen's Love at First Light was... America!"

My mouth fell open.

He chuckled. "This show never ceases to amaze me," Gavril winked. "Well, lovers, off you go, to the Isle of..."

"FERNANDO'S," we all chorused, though my heart was sinking rapidly.

I frown. Why hadn't he chosen me? I am his Love at First Light, the one he'd liked most when he'd come down the lift. And I'd kidded myself that maybe he was the one... I feel so stupid.

"Now this next guy is almost extinct," Gavril declares with a smirk. "A real dinosaur! Back in a dodo."

The cameras stop rolling as we giggle, and we can all relax. A slim, pretty brunette with a dazzling smile in a pale pink, floor-length gown comes down the stairs and stands behind the light that now reads 'Kriss' instead of 'Lucy'.

I turn to Marlee in my right, who's wearing a bright yellow dress so it appears as if she's radiating light, and strike up an easy conversation. It turns out she's from Kent, whereas I'm like her next door neighbour; I live in Carolina.

Celeste joins in, as she comes from another neighbouring province (Clermont), but is a Two, unlike Marlee, who's a Four, and me, a Five. However, coming on the show makes you an automatic Three, since there are so many applications to fill out.

Tonight Celeste is in a black pencil dress with a slit up the leg, not as revealing as last week's where she had a very risqué red 'dress'. Still, she looks stunning. Her dark locks are swept over one shoulder. My hair's in a side braid done by my sister May, and my make-up's light.

The other girls and the audience are also chatting, and I wonder if my family is watching this. Take Me Out Illéa is live, and on just after the Illéa Capital Report, on the same channel.

Most people do put it on, as it is a bit of a laugh, and Gavril is pretty funny. The show is derived from the English version that used to be on ITV about a hundred years ago, with a hilarious man called Paddy McGuiness. Their Isle of Fernando's was on Tenerife, but after it was blew up in WWIV, they chose to put our's in sunny Angeles, which is where this is filmed.

So far on this week's show, Lucy has been paired with Aspen (obviously), and Mia went off with Oscar. There's two men left, both surprises, and I have a good feeling that one if them is going to be for me. Even though I was wrong about Aspen.

"Right ladies, smile and laugh," Gavril orders light-heartedly. "We're on in three, two, one... Welcome back Illéa! Now before the break Aspen was paired off with Lucy, so we need a new hottie in the spotty. Meet Kriss Ambers, our Math teacher from Columbia!"

The brunette smiles perfectly and waves. She looks quite nice, I suppose. Very pretty.

"Now let's see the mystery guy- and I promise you ladies, you want to keep your light on for him," Gavril smiles. "Let the cream see the cracker!" The whole studio laughs. "Single man- reveal yourself!"

The Illéa national anthem plays, one of my favourite songs, as the lift descends. It reveals a tallish man with perfectly styled golden hair, warm chocolate-brown eyes, and a huge grin, in a three-piece navy suit. It takes me a split second to realise he's the mysterious prince Maxon.

A gasp runs round the audience and girls as everybody notices too. But he jumps off the lift, smiling, not looking half as stiff as he does on the Capital Report.

Bounding to Gavril, he spins around and raises his arms to acknowledge the wolf-whistles. I guess he is quite handsome, in a summery kind of way.

"Hello, dears, you're all looking gorgeous tonight!" he cries. "My name's Maxon and I'm a prince from Angeles!"

"Okay, ladies, are you turned on or turned off?" Gavril asks, and everyone's light remains lit, though my hands are twitching slightly. "Wow, Your Highness, thirty-five lights still lit! A full house! First, who is your Love at First Light." He hands Maxon a small black book in which the prince writes a name, after looking around. "Now, let's see why everybody kept them on..."

He comes towards us, and stops in front of Celeste, who flips her long brown hair over her bare shoulder.

"I believe in first impressions, and he made a great one! I mean, look how juicy he looks tonight" she says, winking seductively.

The girls laugh while Maxon blushes slightly. I wonder why he came on this show; after all, he's the prince of Illéa. Don't they marry and date princesses of foreign countries, or go through a Selection? I know that King Clarkson is married to Queen Amberley, but how did they meet? Surely not through a TV game show?

Gavril moves along to Anna, who giggles obnoxiously as he asks why she kept her light on. "Honestly, who wouldn't give up the chance to be with a super hot, charming prince?"

"Well, well, well," he laughs, going back to Maxon and slapping him on the back. "Let's see how many keep their light on after we find a bit more about our favourite prince!"

Everybody's attention snaps to the screen as Maxon's face comes up. We listen to what he says:

"I'm an only child, though I have several cousins. Often I take pictures of them, as photography is one of my passions. Obviously most of my time I'm training to be the next king.

"Naturally, some of you may be wondering why I've come on the show. My parents met through the traditional Selection of Illéa, but after convincing them that this is very similar, much more fun, and I'm not forced into a proposal, they seemed quite on board.

"Some of you may think me stuff and posh, but I can assure you I'm not. Leave your light on for me, and you can find out just how loose I can be."

Applause fills the room, and I look around to see eight girls have switched off. Gavril sees this too, and hops over to us, speaking with one or two.

"So Hannah, why did you turn off?" he asks.

"It's the whole fact about the Selection/proposal thing," she laughs. "You kinda made it seem like we're, I dunno, trial runs, before you get married?"

"Interesting, interesting," the presenter says, moving down the line. "So Clarissa, you also switched off?"

"I think it was, like, photography for me, 'cos like, I'm not, like, a camera girl or any thin', so I wouldn't, like, feel comfortable having, like, me photo taken, you know I mean?"

"Let's have a chat with some of those who kept they'd lights bright," Gavril grins, coming near me, but luckily he stops on Tuesday. "Why did you keep your light on, Tuesday?"

"I have four siblings, and you have all these cousins, so they could have a play while we sneak off for some 'us' time," she tells him flirtatiously.

"His Royal Highness Prince Maxon has got twenty-seven girls still in the running. But let's see how he fares when best mate Daphne gets her words in. Girls, if he's not the one for you, you know what to do."

A pretty blonde with dark blue eyes starts to speak on the screen, and I listen carefully.

"I have known Maxon my whole life, but before you keep your light on for him, there's something you should know.

"Whenever he gets drunk, he completely blacks out and doesn't remember a thing. Once, after a masquerade ball, Maxon woke up with the palace greyhounds in the stables."

Everyone chuckles as a picture flashes up of him sleeping with an arm around a slim grey dog.

I hear a further nine buzzes and watch Gavril jog over to them, talking to one who turned off and one who didn't. Walking back to Maxon, he claps him on the back.

"Still twenty-two lovely ladies left, but now the power is in your hands," he says, and the audience ooh as the lights turn red. "All you have to do is narrow it down to just two girls. So get out there and turn off the ladies that don't razzle your dazzle!"

Maxon set off at a run, and I could see his muscles rippling beneath his shirt. He eliminates girls quickly until just Marlee, Celeste, Kriss, Elise, Natalie and myself remain. Jogging now, Maxon turns off Elise, then Natalie, before coming over to me and switching off Celeste and Marlee in one go.

'Well, well, well!' Gavril exclaimed, welcoming the prince back. 'America and Kriss are the last two remaining. Indeed, Miss America was last time as well!

'But Your Highness,' Gavril bows exaggeratedly, 'you can choose only one. Ask them any question you like.'

Maxon cocks his head. 'If you were a cocktail, what would you be?' he asks, and I smile.

'Kriss!'

'I'd be a piña colada , because I'm sweet and loved by all,' she giggles. Kriss is already a Three, whereas I'm just a musician and a Five.

'Ooh,' Gavril says. 'What about you, America?'

'I'd be Sex on the Beach, to tell the fortune of our time in Fernando's,' I answer in a somewhat seductive manner, throwing in a flirtatious wink for good measure. Celeste is rubbing off on me, even if pre-marital sex is illegal.

Gavril chuckles. 'Two very different answers there, Maxon, but who will you pick?'

He comes over to me first, chocolate eyes staring at me. Celeste and Marlee shoo him away, and he grins walking over to Kriss, whom he kisses lightly on the cheek before pressing her light off.

Marlee, Celeste and I scream in delight, hugging each other tightly. Soon I walk over to Maxon, still smiling hugely, and watch his eyes widen as he takes in my outfit: smooth blue satin, fanning out at the waist and fading to purple, with a high waist and no straps.

He kisses my hand chastely, leaving a warm tingling feeling where his lips are. I hide my smile as Maxon hugs me to his side and we turn to face Gavril.

'Before you head off, Maxon, you chose a Love at First Light when you first arrived,' he says. 'America, would you like to know who it is?'

I nod. Gavril takes the little black book and opens it, eyebrows shooting up. 'Maxon's Love at First Light was... America!'

I laugh as the audience cheer and the remaining girls clap and giggle and ooh and ah.

'Well then,' Gavril says as Maxon takes my hand. 'Off you go to the Isle of...' Everyone joins in. 'FERNANDO's!'

The End (;


End file.
